The Institution
by Awesomepossum328
Summary: "Welcome to Half-Blood Institution for the Gifted: Where we Help Your Child Use Their Gift for Good!" Percy nearly laughed at the sign, of his consequence—er—new school. He clutched his dufflebag, looking to the governmental agents on his left and right side, and reminded himself: you'll never fit it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello my lovely fanfiction readers, so I've been pondering around this idea for a while, and I've decided to do it. No telling if it's actually going to work, but I'm going to try. So here's to it... not.. failing... **

**Well that killed the joyful mood.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series. **

**Oh, 'tis great sadness to write a disclaimer.**

* * *

Percy Jackson had done some bad things in his life. Very bad things.

It had all started with his sixth great field trip to the Museum of Something. He couldn't even recall the name now, but it had something to do with history, as all museums did. The details were fuzzy; he could barely remember the name of the school he had been at that year: Yancy Academy.

He never had any friends there, and was constantly picked on by Nancy Bobofit; a girl with mop of red hair. He used to joke to himself that she shouldn't be allowed at space launches, because Houston would get too distracted by her freckles and mess up the launch... well, it had made since to him.

She would constantly pick on him, yet to all the teachers she was a little angel. Percy had been sitting alone on the front steps of the Museum of Something, picking at a hairline crack in the sidewalk with his fingernail, waiting for one of the chaperones, Mrs. Dodds, to order them back to the bus, when Nancy had walked up.

She was accompanied by her usual group of friends, equally as nasty as herself. She looked down at him with her lips pursed, as if deciding what would be the meanest thing to do to him. Percy knew he should've gotten up and walked away, but he didn't. She stood there for a few minutes, until Percy looked back at her, and then, she spit her well-chewed Hubba Bubba bubble gum onto his face.

Oh, he lost it.

Well, not exactly. He, calmly, moved the gum of his face, putting on the top of her sneakers, smearing the slimey mess really good, so she'd have a hard time getting it off. Percy thought it was over, and that was his revenge, but a feeling in the pit of his stomach said otherwise.

Nancy's feet were suddenly wrenched from his vision, as he felt a few drops of water trinkle down his neck, as if it were about to start raining. He looked up to the sky, but got stuck on the place where Nancy and her two friends had been standing. None of them were there anymore, and he figured they'd gone off to tell on him to Mrs. Dodds.

Whatever. Just another two months of detention, everyday.

He shrugged, whipping the leftover slobber from Nancy's gum onto his jeans, when suddenly he heard a gut-wrenched scream. Something that could only be heard after someone had just been stabbed, but it was quite the opposite.

The entire crowd of people near the steps to the museum turned their heads, including Mrs. Dodds, to... Nancy, and her friends. They were sitting in the fountains looking terrified and half-confused.

Nancy locked eyes on him, "Percy pushed us!"

Mrs. Dodds head was like a Percy magnet, she found him immediately. Other girls from the school took pity on Nancy, hauling the three girls from the fountain, offering supplies of hair combs and lip gloss. Mrs. Dodds raised her signature one finger, and motioned Percy towards her in a menacing way.

Percy swallowed, fearfully, and forced himself forward. Mrs. Dodds grabbed his ear and pulled him back towards the bus, ignoring his protests of pain. And he had to sit there, with Mrs. Dodds, for two hours before the other kids came back, each giving him a fearful stare. A few whispered about him, "Did you see the water? It practically grabbed them."

But Percy didn't care, he just did his best to ignore Mrs. Dodds death stare the entire ride back to Yancy. Once they arrived, Mrs. Dodds immediately took Percy to the Administrative office, where everyone simply _loved_ him. He was immediately expelled, and sent to his dorm to pack. He was on a bus home the same day.

That had all been four years ago; things had escalated since then. When his was thirteen, he lit a school gym on fire. When he was fourteen, he broke into a school and stole test answers, but it got much worse when he turned fifteen. Word had been travelling through the streets about the kid who could control water, and alot of gangs offered him high-ranking positions.

He had turned them down, until money was offered, and alot of it. He had been offered a job, from a man by the name of Kronos. They'd met in a dark alley, and Percy had been told about the position. The whole meeting, Percy had been thinking about his mother. His mother was an angel, a saint, and didn't deserve the life she lived.

Her parents were dead, and so was her husband, Percy's father. She worked, tirelessly, at a candy shop in the mall, to support him. She tried her best to help understand his abilities, but it always turned up blank. She always told him, how one day, she'd get a big job, and make much more money. They'd live in a better apartment, and could eat at fancy restaurants every night.

But his mother was getting older, and it was time for Percy to step up and be a man, so he'd taken the job. It was petty crimes at first, stealing small things, or spying on other gangs. Somehow, Kronos had helped Percy learn how to use his abilities, and once Percy had learned it was time to step up to the big leagues.

After Percy's sixteenth birthday, he had been sent on a mission, to kill a rival gang leader. He didn't want to do it, but he had to prove himself, and earn the money his mother thought came from a local grocery bagger job. Percy stood outside the gang's warehouse headquarters, knowing the leader's office was on the second floor. A quick jump, and little help from a nearby puddle, and Percy was in through an open window.

He should've seen it coming, the way the room had been so bare. Percy looked around the room, his black hoodie shielding his face. He pulled the hood down, and hid behind the chair, pressing his finger to the transmitter in his ear.

"You sure this is the right place?" He whispered. "It's empty."

A gruff voice responded, "It's the right place. We made sure, before sending in our best guy."

"Well, I don't know—"

The room burst open and a full SWAT team rushed him. They tackled him before he even had time to react, or move his hand to command the water. They secured handcuffs around his hands and feet, but they still pressed him against the floor, weight preventing motion.

Though he was facing the opposite wat, Percy heard a man walk in the room, "So you're the great Percy Jackson? I've heard plenty about you, some I didn't assum true, about this... liking you have for water, but all percautions have been made anyways. Can you move?"

Percy could tell the man already knew the answer, "Not at all."

"Excellent. You see Percy, this gang, of their leader you were trying to murder, they don't exist. It's a gang we created to lure you in, a cop gang, I guess you could call it."

Percy struggled, trying to get his finger to his ear.

"Why are you struggling?" The man questioned, Percy could tell he was suddenly smiling. "You're bugged." The man walked over and removed the ear piece from Percy. "Hello?" He called into it.

"What?" A voice came back, Kronos, definitely Kronos. He would know that Percy had failed, if this didn't mean Percy was getting fired, he didn't know what would.

"Kronos." The man recognized, easily. "My, my, I've heard alot about you. I've got someone here who'd like to speak to you."

The man moved to put the piece to Percy's mouth, but Kronos spoke, "Don't even try that. Percy's useless to me, a mere pawn."

"Oh, so you don't mind if we, say, keep him, do you?" The man spoke. "Send him to Chiron, perhaps?"

There was a pause on Kronos' side, "Nope not at all."

"Well, then I guess we will just send him to Chiron."

A fuzz came from the other end, telling Percy that Kronos had cut the connection, disabling the piece beyond tracking the signal. The SWAT lifted Percy up, keeping a grip on his joints, still allowed no motion. Percy could now see the man, neck up showed he could passed for sixty-five, but neck down showed twenty-two. It was quite an odd mixture: grey hair, and a toned chest.

"Well, Percy." The man spoke. "You're in luck, welcome to Half-Blood Institution."

* * *

Percy was oushed roughly out of the van, knowing it wasn't going to be pretty when he got inside.

He looked over his shoulder, where the gates to the large mansion had been locked tight, and electrified. He had no hope of getting out, and even if he managed, SWAT would jump him, and take him back. It's not like he was going to try to escape though, he had lost to Kronos, and had lost his job. He couldn't bare to think what his mother would think. If he even tried to go back, Kronos' gang members, or the "Kronosites" as they perferred to be called, would find him and kill him for his failure.

Percy looked at the sign at the edge of the walkway to the front door,

**_'Welcome to Half-Blood Institution for the Gifted_**

_Where we Help Your Child Use Their Gift for Good!'_

Percy nearly laughed at the sign, of his consequence—er—new school. He clutched his dufflebag, looking to the governmental agents on his left and right side, and reminded himself: _you'll never fit it. _A lifetime of badness could never be changed by a correctional facility.

The agent on his left grabbed his arm, and dragged him to the door. Percy could see eyes through the curtains on the front windows, before they hastily disappeared. The right agent knocked, loudly, on the door, and a man in a wheelchair opened it, a girl with a blonde curly hair at his side. The man whispered something to her, and she nodded, before quickly walking away.

The man scooted away from the door, "Ah yes, Admiral Blair said you would be bringing him today. Please come in."

"Of course, Professor Chiron." The agents said in union, and stepped inside, with Percy in tow.

Both agents still had their grip on Percy, "Come now," Chiron said, eyeing their hands locked onto Percy's elbows. "There's no need for that. We're quite trusting here, you may release him."

"Not possible sir." Right agent said, a beat ahead of the left. "We must restrain him, he is very dangerous."

"He's fine." Chiron insisted. "You both know what we can do here, he's no threat to us."

Beneath their shades, Percy could feel both agents eyes widen, "Yes, of course sir."

"Right then," Chiron clapped his hands together. "If everything is in order, you two are free to leave."

"Of course." They both released their grips on Percy and walked out the front door.

Percy sat there, awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Chiron. For some strang reason, he craved this man's approval, and he didn't know why. Chiron stared at Percy, taking in his condition, physically and mentally. Neither said a word, until Percy broke the silence.

"So, um, compared to the other residents, how insane am I?" Percy mentally high-fived himself for using big words.

"Insane?" Chiron questioned.

"Yeah, this is a correctional facility," Percy said, "Isn't it?"

"Yes, but insanity is not what we correct here."

"Well, what do you correct?"

Chiron chuckled, "We don't correct anything, we simply help you understand."

"Understand what?" Percy felt frustrated, like he was getting nowhere in this.

"Perhaps I should explain better." Chiron said. "But for now, I think a physical example may be the best explanation for you. Come in everyone, I know you're eavesdropping."

As Chiron said those words, the four doors into the lounge opened and multiple people flooded in. Percy recognized the blonde girl from the door way, she was surrounded by a girl with choppy black hair, and a love for black eyeliner, and a blonde boy, matching the the black-haired girl's striking blue eyes.

"Everyone, this is Percy. Percy, this is everyone." A wonderful introduction from Chiron. "I'll leave you to really get acquainted. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office." Once the quiet hum of Chiron's electric wheelchair was gone, the room was silent.

Until a boy stepped forward, wearing black skinny jeans and a skull t-shirt, "Hi."

"Hi." Percy responded.

"I'm Nico."

"Percy."

The boy was silent, until he blurted out, "What's your power?!"

"What?" Percy was taken aback.

A girl next to the boy, smacked his arm, but Nico didn't take the hint, "What's your power? You know, your gift? I can talk to the dead."

"Huh?" Percy tried to replay the sentence in his head, but he couldn't believe it.

"I can talk to the dead." Nico repeated. "It's pretty lame when all you can do is council an angry ghost couple."

"Oh." Percy was quiet.

The girl next to Nico stepped forward, a green baseball cap, covering her eyes, "Hi, I'm Bianca. I'm Nico's older sister. He's been waiting for someone new to come, since we're the newest."

"What's your gift?" Percy asked.

"Oh, me?" Bianca was suddenly flustered. "Oh, all I can do is melt into the shadows, like, blend in with the darkness. It's not really all that special."

"I think it's cool." Nico spoke up.

No one else spoke.

"Okay, how about this." Percy suggested. "You guys, step up, say your name and your gift, and then I"ll tell you mine."

The girl next to the blonde spoke, "I'm Thalia. I can summon electrical charges, and that's my kid brother Jason, he can—"

The blonde boy stepped forward, "I'm Jason and I can levitate."

A pretty brunette walked next to him, "I'm Piper, and I have the gift of persuasion."

Another girl came forward, her blonde hair striking, "I'm Silena, and my power's kinda worthless, but I'm unnaturally beautiful, and I guess that distracts boys, or something." Her face fell a bit, "I'm not really sure what it's for."

An African American boy put a burly arm around her, "Charles Beckondorf, but call me Charles and you're dead. Beckondorf's, what I go by, and I have super strength."

A impish boy with curly black hair came forward next to Jason, "I'm Leo, and I'm super smart, I guess you could say, and I can build anything. Oh! And I'm good with machines."

Two people, a boy and a girl, stepped up next, the girl spoke first, "I'm Clarisse, and I have advanced combat skills."

The boy spoke next, "Name's Chris, and I'm a thief. I could pickpocket you right now, and you'd never know."

Percy nodded, and his hand immediately went to his back pocket, before he remember: the government had taken his wallet. Percy had to admit, these people were kind of like him, and he took pride in that.

A dark skinned girl smiled, "I'm Hazel and I can sense metals. You have a silver-lined tooth on your top left hand molar."

Percy's eyes widened, and she laughed.

A mop of curly hair, that was strangely familiar, stepped forward, "I'm Grover, and I can sense emotions."

A girl with her black hair braided back, "Reyna, and I can talk to dogs."

"Rachel." Said a girl with hair near Nancy Bobofit's. "I can see the future."

A beefy boy grabbed Hazel's hand, and smiled goofily at her, "I'm Frank, and I can shape-shift." Percy felt genuinely impressed. "Into a few things that a familiar to me." And it was gone.

A small girl, shyly, came forward and Grover wrapped his arm protectively around her, and she snuggled to his chest, "I'm Juniper, and I can turn anything into a Juniper bush. I just haven't figured out how to turn them back."

A pair of twins, with matching grins and lopsided noses, stood up, "I'm Travis, and I'm Conner. And we have the power a stealth. We're extra sneaky, don't be kissing anyone of these fine girl, because we'll be there, and you'll never know." Percy felt strangely amused, and creeped out at the same time.

A brunette girl smacked one of the twins, "I'm Katie, and I can control some small plants."

The only person left was the curly blonde-haired girl, and she had stuck to the back of the room. Her startling grey eyes stared through Percy. He panicked for a moment, maybe she knew what he'd done in his past. He relaxed when she blinked.

"Annabeth." She offered her name, before pushing a door open and leaving without giving away anything else.

Jason saw the look on Percy's face, "Don't take it too hard, man. She's been here the longest, even before me and my sister. Nobody knows her powers, she trains alone. Rumors say that she told a boy once, and he's long gone now. Maybe she just doesn't like people knowing anymore, but that's okay, you're not the only person who doesn't know."

Percy shook his expression off, "So, anyways, I'm Percy, and I have control over water. I can sort of bend it to my will, and before I, uh... left where I was before, I had been working on a technique to melt down my molecules and turn myself into water!"

There was plenty of amirable faces, and stunned faces. Percy felt proud to have won their respect so easily, but soon another awkward silence took over, and Percy didn't know what to do, he had been involved in so many already that day. But Nico broke the silence for him, once more.

"So does that mean you can surf really well?"

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**Sorry about any spelling mistakes. And I hope this story gets successful, and I hope you guys like it! Thanks for reading, now review! **

**My Randomness: So last night I was lying in my bed looking at the stars, pondering the mysteries of life, and I thought to myself, "WHERE THE HECK IS MY CEILING?!"**

* * *

**Never ever stop being such Awesome Possums! :oD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, thanks for 8 reviews, 22 follows, 180 views, and 13 favorites. I really appreciate that! I hope you guys like this story. Be sure to go check out my other stories as well, I have a Tratie story called, "Faking It" which is my most successful, with 126 reviews. I hope to get this story that successful!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series.**

**The word "own" is not in the word "disclaimer," but if you scramble it up a bit there is a "lame."**

* * *

Percy sat there awkwardly, with everyone's eyes on him.

Butterflies settled into his stomach, he wondered how he, a former gang member, would ever fit into this group. They were all obviously well groomed, except for Leo and Beckondorf who had bits of motor grease on their hands. Percy twindled his thumbs, ignoring Nico's questions about the lengths of his gift, for Percy didn't even know himself. Needless to say, Percy was uncomfortable.

Thank goodness when Chiron's wheelchair humming could be heared. Chiron leaned over from his chair, and pushed the door open, with a smile that everyone had surrounded Percy, introducing themselves.

"I apologize, but I am going to have to cut this conversation short." Chiron said. "It's time for dinner."

Percy was first to jump up from his spot on the couch, and jogged into the dining room. The room was huge, with a long polished wooden table and elegant chushioned chairs. It was old fashioned, but a bit modernized with a burning marble fireplace. He chose a random place, the chair to the right of the front of the table.

Thalia and Jason looked at him, like he had trespassed onto private property, until Thalia whispered something into her brother's ear. Then, Jason sat next to Percy, and Thalia chose the chair to the right of Jason. Everyone else filed in, seeming to be going to a determined place next to closer friends, not leaving a single chair empty.

Percy folded his hands into his lap, after placing a napkin in his lap, showing the others he had some form of manners. He patiently waited for food, never asking when it was going to come. But as his stomach growled, he was on the verge of questioning if it ever would. Suddenly the double doors leading to the kitchen burst open, and food, literally, floated outside of it.

"What the—" Percy shut his mouth before he could finish that sentence.

"Chill, man." Jason whispered to him. "It's only Piper."

"What?" That didn't explain much to Percy.

"Piper, sort of, enchants the dishes. She uses her power of charmspeak, persuades the plates to float. That way none of use have to get up." Jason pushed his hands behind his head, in a relaxation sort of way.

Percy looked to Piper, and sure enough, her eyes never blinked, and intense concentration traced the lines of her face. She muttered to herself, plates and cups hovering over the tables, straightening themselves. The dishes slowly lowered themselves onto the table, in a graceful matter, landing perfectly. Everyone clapped for her, she smiled, proud of herself.

Chiron had wheeled himself in, and raised an eyebrow at Percy, for a reason Percy did not know. But, nevertheless, he placed himself at the head of the table, and smiled at his students, but frowned as if something were missing.

"Where's Annabeth?" He asked, his eyes scanning the room for her.

No one answered.

"Has anyone seen Annabeth?" He asked, once more.

Annabeth burst into the room, out of breath, "Sorry I'm late, Chiron, I had this genius idea for a new architecture model, and I simply—" Her eyes narrowed on Percy. He looked around, searching for what she might be staring at. "What are you doing in my chair?"

"I, uh, didn't know it was yours." Percy stated the truth.

"Well move." Annabeth ordered, swishing her hand as if to blow him away from the chair.

"But there's no more chairs." Percy argued.

"Then I guess you'll just have to stand." Annabeth's eyes darted about the room, catching on something before moving to something else, but she blinked it away.

"No."

"Uh, that may not be the best move here, my man." Jason whispered to him. "She's not the 'no' kind of chick."

"Don't care." Percy whispered back.

"You two can share the chair, until we get an extra down from the attic." Chiron suggested.

"I wil not be sharing my chair with that trash." Annabeth insisted.

"Trash?" Percy asked, angrily.

In his life, Percy Jackson had been called many things. Trash was a constant insult, being from a poor family, and there usually was a "worthless" or "filthy" before it. But even without the added on insult, it was different coming from Annabeth. Percy gripped the table cloth, and the glasses of soda and water began to shake on the table. Annabeth took a cautionary step back, but she didn't back down.

Annabeth looked at him, curiously, and smirked, "Go ahead, do it, _trash_."

Percy snapped an array of cups flew from the table, directed at Annabeth. Her eyes widened, not in a fearful way, but in a focused way. She kicked away soda glasses, and deflected water cups with master skill. Percy sent a cup at her from behind, hoping to hit her, but she backfisted it with a large clang to match, without even looking.

"That's it." Nico stood up. "I'm out."

Annabeth pushed him away from his chair, kicking up his plate of food, and expertly side-kicking it at Percy. Percy ducked, ignoring the multiple clangs behind him, thinking it was simply the food or the plate hitting the wall. Percy doubled over, forwards, barely catching himself before hitting his own plate of food, as something slimely hit his backside.

He looked up at Annabeth, who was smiling, triumphantly, and reached for his backside. The plate slid off to the floor, ending it with a clunk, Percy could feel mashed potaoes soaking through his shirt, and a steak sticking to him. Percy glared at Annabeth, wanting to have the last laugh, he sat down in her precious chair, and smeared his backside into it; rubbing steak and potatoes into the cushioned back.

Annabeth gasped at him, her eyes narrowed in anger. She yelped, and flung herself towards him, crawling across the table, clawing at him, getting her own self dirty. Nico grabbed her, and pulled her back, despite her being a head taller than him, as Jason held back Percy from doing the same.

"That's enough!" Chiron slammed his hand down against the table, angrily. "This place is a mess!" And it really was, with Percy's drinks sprung everywhere, soaking everything. "Percy you will learn to control your powers, and Annabeth, you will learn to control your anger! We will finish dinner, and then you two will clean this room spotless! And that is final!"

Everyone was quiet, it was obvious this was the first time Chiron had ever really yelled at a student, let alone two. Percy hung his head in shame, he had only been here for a little over four hours, and he had already trashed the dining room. It was embarassing, and he could see Annabeth felt the same her fingers rubbed her forehead, with her eyes closed. Perhaps she just had a bad headache or something.

Everyone relaxed in their chairs, and tried to scrounge up anything that was still edible. Percy felt he should apologize, but each time he rehearsed it in his head, it didn't sound right, and it didn't help that he had to share the chair with Annabeth. She just picked at her food, never taking a bite. The entire room was nearly dead, Nico on the other hand, was quite lively.

"So, can you surf really well?" Nico had seated himself across from Percy, asking questions, despite a silencing hand from Bianca. "Are you a fast swimmer? How long can you hold your breath?"

Percy shrugged, how did this kid think of all these questions?

"I've never really tried. We're in New York, the water isn't exactly California warm."

Annabeth stiffened next to him, his muscles tense. Something in that sentence had caught her, he just didn't know what. Annabeth peeled herself out of the chair, having a difficult time, since she had been squeezed next to Percy. She picked up her plate, and Percy's, which he wasn't done with, and went into the kitchen.

Chiron clapped his hands, "All right, everyone, it's eight o'clock. Dinner is over, and free hour has begun, remember lights out at ten, and that means everyone. I don't care what invention you have this week Leo, it isn't going to help you stay up past curfew."

Leo grumbled from his spot, pushing his chair in, before dashing upstairs followed by everyone, but Percy, which left him with Chiron. Percy looked at the old man, wrinkles lining his face, and a few gray hairs sprouting out. His own nice, neutral orange presh shirt, had a brown stain on it, no doubt a Coke or Pepsi stain, courtesy of Percy.

"Look, Professor, I'm really sorry—" Percy tried, but Chiron interrupted.

"It's not that you did it, Percy. I'm not mad about that Percy, it's that you did it out of hate and anger." Chiron looked wisely at Percy. "And to answer your question, that is what we correct here. We help you to use your gift for good, and not for personal revenge." Chiron sighed at Percy, taking pity on the boy. "Now get to the kitchen, my boy, and help Annabeth clean up. It's been a long day"

Percy got up towards the kitchen, when Chiron spoke again, "Oh, and Percy?"

"Yes?"

"Don't push her, Annabeth, I mean. She's had a harder time than perhaps even you, and knows much." Chiron chuckled. "The only problem is, she learned it all on her own."

"What does that mean?" Percy asked.

Chiron didn't look like he wanted to answer, and Annabeth called to him, "Percy, you better get your butt in here, before I go out there and get it!"

Chiron winked at him, and Percy groaned, "Coming!"

After a long night of dishes, Percy had left the kitchen, and Annabeth after she's smakced him which the dish towel a couple hundred times. He didn't know what to expect when he came to his room, hopefully a nice large bed, and his own personal bathroom. But what he got was quite the opposite, when he opened the door.

"Percy!" Nico. Nico was his room mate, but there were three beds...

"Hey, Perce." Jason, okay Jason he could deal with it.

"Uh, hey guys." Percy greeted, "What're you doing here?" Percy prayed they'd realize they made a mistake and were in the wrong room.

"Oh, this is our room." Jason answered. "I guess you're crashing with us. You can take the bed by the window."

Percy sulked to the bed, and threw himself on it, "This is a huge mansion! Why do we have to bunk together? It's not like we're cramped for space!"

"Professor Chiron thinks it's better for us, when it comes to teamwork, to bunk together." Jason answered. "Only few people get their own room, and that's when they're high up with Chiron; when they're on the mission team."

"Mission team?" Percy questioned.

"Yeah, they're the students who go on the quests, into the city to fight crime and stuff."

"Crime?"

"Yeah." Jason answered. "Did you think the old man was just training us to keep us all cooped up? No, we're supposed to fight crime, because we had a heads-up with our powers. Speaking of which, that was pretty cool, what you did at dinner."

Percy laughed, "Thanks, man. So who get's their own room?"

"Well, my sister does." Jason started. "But that's more a question for Nico, he's the town gossip here, talking to the dead, he knows everything."

"Okay, then." Percy looked at Nico, who was wearing his excited face. "So Nico? Who's got their own room?"

"Okay," Nico took a breath, bringing out a pad of paper, drawing a square on it. "Okay so there's six single rooms, where only one person lives, but they're huge, own bathroom and everything." Nico blocked out six squares on the west wing of his little blueprint of the mansion. "These three far ones are the girls, and they are occupied by Thalia, Silena, and Annabeth—"

"Annabeth gets her own room?" Percy questioned, jealously tinting his voice.

"Yes." Nico wrote in the names, on their respective room. "Now across the hall from them, are the three guy rooms, but only two are occupied, by Beckondorf and Grover."

"Only two?" Jason questioned. "I didn't know that. Why won't Chiron give out that room?"

"I don't know, I'm actually too scared to find out." Nico admitted. "Now over here, are our rooms." Nico drew in an east wind with another six rooms drawn out. "In Room A is us. Room B is Travis and Conner, since no one will dare to room with them, and in Room C is Frank, Leo, and Chris." Nico wrote in everyone's name. "Room D, across the hall, begins the girl's rooms, in there is Hazel, Piper, and my sister. In Room E is Reyna and Clarisse, all the other girls are too scared to room with them, and in Room F is Juniper, Rachel, and Katie." Nico drew in names, and put down his pencil. "Are there any questions?"

"Uh, yeah." Percy started. "What is all this empty space."

Nico drew in multiple spaces, connecting each other, and pointed to each as he spoke, "Library. Training Room. Gym. Dining Room. Living Room. Lounge. Foyer. All these are hallways. Kitchens. Study. Game Room." Nico paused, taking a breath. "Anything else?"

"What about all this space?" Percy pointed to the South Wing, which had virtually nothing.

"Oh, that." Nico groaned. "Those are all the empty bedrooms, which Chiron won't let us sleep in."

"This?" Percy questioned a bit a space near the single bedrooms.

"That is Professor Chiron's bedroom." Nico wrote Chiron's name down as he said it. "All the space is filled and labeled, anything else, Percy? Jason?"

"Nope." Jason said.

"I think I'm good." Percy said. "Nico? Do you mind if I keep this? I'm bound to get lost."

"Sure man, it's all yours." Nico gave it to him, and rolled onto his ouwn bed. "Good night. I'm tired. Remember, gentlemen—"as he spoke, Jason mouth his words—"with great power, comes great need to take a nap!"

Percy looked at Jason, and Jason shrugged, muttering, so Nico wouldn't hear him, "He says it everynight."

"Seriously?" Percy raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that get annoying."

"Well, he's right, isn't he?" And Jason was out before his hit his pillow.

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**Sorry this chapter was a little short, like 500 words off my last one. But I still hope you guys liked it, and keep reading it. Sorry for any spelling errors and stuff, I'm bad with those. Anyways, READ AND REVIEW!**

**Random Fact of the Day: There is an insect called the "Assassin Bug" It tricks spiders by mimicking helpless prey caught in a spider wed. When the spiders run towards it, the Assassin bug stabs the spider with it's snout. After it's done feeding, it wears the corpse of it's victim as armor. **

**Yeah, scared of spiders? Imagine stepping into the shower one day, to see one of those bad boys. There are a whole lot more messed up things in life, than a spider.**

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**Never ever stop being such Awesome Possums! :oD**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry I haven't been updating, like so freakishly sorry. Just hang with me on this, I've been having testing, since it's getting close to the end of the school year. I had to stay up late and study, so I'm tired, and I've been sick to top it off. I'll try to update more though!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series.**

**I'm too tired to even put something funny with the disclaimer.**

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Percy Jackson recieved a rude awakening his second day at the Institute.

He had been sleeping, soundly, in his own dream world, where the sugar plums and fairies lived. Not that he dreamed about stuff like that. No, never. It was more manly stuff, like... monster trucks and rocket launchers. And he had been fairly enjoying it, when suddenly, one of the "monster trucks" jumped on him, and began chanting his name, loudly.

It's voice was oddly familiar too...

"Percy!" It called. "Get up, Percy! Percy!"

Percy's eyes shot open as he was ripped from his dream. He couldn't focus on anything, but his body ordering his eyes back shut. Before sleep could take Percy, he realized something was on top of him, something relatively heavy.

"Percy!" The voice, shouted into his half-asleep ears. "Wake up! Wake up, Percy!"

The owner of the voice, jumped up and down, it's weight keeping Percy awake. Percy turned his head, upwards. Nico. He was nose to nose with Nico. Well, at least he thought he was. He still had groggy morning vision, and probably couldn't tell the difference between Nico and a coat closet.

"Percy! Surfer dude, wake up!" Well, it certainly wasn't the coat closet.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" Percy asked, annoyed, and slightly angry.

"Waking you up." Nico was still on top of Percy.

"Why?"

"Because we have training today, and you're going to miss it, if you don't get up."

"Training?" Percy rubbed his eyes, his movement restricted from Nico's weight.

"Yeah." Percy didn't know what to make of it. Training? For what? He wasn't on whatever mission team there was.

"Hey, Percy? Did you know you drool in your sleep?"

Percy squinted at Nico, with a look of pitiful amazement, "Nico?"

"Yes, drool face?"

"Get. Off. Me." Percy wasn't a morning person.

"Sure." Nico slid off onto the floor. "You still need to get up, training starts in half an hour."

As Nico left the room, Percy fell back against his pillow. For the first time, he realized there was something crusty on his face, like dried glue. Percy scratched it off, right by the corner of his mouth. Percy scrunched his eyebrows for a moment, before he sat up and looked at his pillow. In the blue material was a spot, it's color darker than the rest of the fabric, right by the indention of his head.

He really did drool. Ew.

Percy rubbed his temples, moving his legs off the side of his bed. He had never been so exhausted in his life. He twisted his body, popping his back. He cracked his knuckles, and his neck, in a desperate attempt to losen his tired body. He stood up, in nothing but a pair of flannel pajama pants, and he spotted the alarm clock on his nightstand.

6:30 a.m.

These people were trying to kill him.

Percy was tempted to fall back against his bed, and covered himself with the covers. Maybe if he positioned himself correctly, it would look like no one, but a pile of blankets was there, but he decided against it. He had caused Chiron enough trouble the night before, and he wanted to prove that he was a good person.

Percy groaned, standing up, going over to his bit of wardrobe. As he did so, he waved his hand, turning on the shower to warm up for him. He smiled, pulling out a white t-shirt and athletic short for training, sometimes it was good to have powers.

Percy carried his change of clothes into the bathroom, where three sinks waited, two supplied by toothpaste, the third empty. He guessed that one was for him, he glanced into the mirror, and had to double-take. He looked awful. His hair was matted down and stuck to his head. He had bags under his eyes, physically showing his lack of sleep. His shoulders slumped and his pajama bottoms were wrinkled.

It felt good to pull off his sweaty pajamas, and jump into warm water for a quick shower. Percy was immediately energized as soon as the water rained down on him. Water could do that thing for him. He didn't bother with shampoo or conditioner, just a quick rinse was all he needed.

He was, regrettably, out within five minutes, a new person. The bags were gone, and his skin glowed in a tropic tan. His hair was still wet, and he could will it dry, but he didn't feel like it. He threw on his clothes, quickly brushed his teeth, attempted to tame down his wild damp hair, failed, and was out the door by 6:45.

He descended the stairs into the dining room, where everyone was in such a good mood. Nico was bouncing in his seat, still full of youth energy, and Bianca sat next to him, with her usual smile covered by her green cap. Grover was drifting in and out of sleep, only to be kept awake by Juniper's constant shaking of his shoulder. The Stoll twins, Travis and Conner, on the other hand, were gone. Travis leaned on Katie's shoulder, she seemed annoyed by it, and Conner slumped in his chair.

Leo was furiously twisting two wire ties together, and Jason entertained himself by levitating a few inches before thumping back into his chair. Piper was murmuring quietly; charmspeaking herself awake. Clarisse looked wide awake, and ready to throttle someone. Chris sat to her left, absentmindedly scratching at the table with his fingernail. Hazel and Frank busied themselves with a lazily played game of rock, paper, scissors.

Thalia stared blankly ahead, bored with the whole thing. Reyna sat beside her, drawing something on a pad of paper. Beckondorf and Silena were too busy staring at each other to take in the fact that other people were even present. And Annabeth—Percy caught himself staring at her.

She sat near the front, rather stood, since Percy had ruined her chair the previous night. She was bent over the table, consumed in a sketchbook. Her blonde pony tail cascaded down her shoulder, as it went with the direction of gravity. Her gray eyes darted about the paper, calculating something. No one, except Percy, paid her much attention, as if her actions were normal, and they probably were.

Percy walked across the room to her, to their conjoined spot, all eyes on him. He waved it off, figuring that it was because he was new, and everyone was still curious about him. He stood in between Jason and Annabeth. Jason muttered a tired hello, as he fell down into his chair. Annabeth scowled at him, probably bothered that he was sharing her air space.

Percy was planning to apologize for the fight the previous night, but before he could, Chiron wheeled into the room. He parked himself at the head of the table. Everyone seemed to jolt to attention at his arrival, awaiting his next orders. Chiron smiled, and winked at Percy, before addressing the group.

"Good morning, everyone." Chiron greeted. Everyone returned the phrase, Percy a beat behind, not knowing they usually did that. Annabeth smirked at that. "I hope you're all well rested, because training will begin in ten minutes. So to the training room, and I will meet you there."

Chiron stayed parked, but everyone else stood and all pushed and shoved towards the left rear door. Piper shouted out a command, and everyone, including Percy froze. She called out another, and they all seperated, allowing her first walkthroughs. Jason grunted as she walked by; Piper rolled her eyes, but whispered into his ear, granting him movement. He walked out with her, but always allowing ladies first.

Piper removed the charm as soon as she and Jason were through, and everyone else continued to push their way out, as Chiron chuckled. Percy tried to walk next to Annabeth, still attempting an apology, but he was pushed back. Annabeth had already calculated a route through the crowd of kids, slipping through small openings that not even Percy would've thought of. So he got stuck next to Beckondorf near the back.

Percy didn't really know the big guy, so he introduced himself, "Percy." He greeted, offering his hand.

"I know, man." Beckondorf shook it anyways. "I was there when the guys in suits dragged you in. Beckondorf, if you don't remember."

The girl next to him cleared her throat.

"Oh, and this is Silena if you didn't remember that."

Percy shook her hand, and she smiled, made shy by him. But soon, ignored him when she turned back to Beckondorf. Percy shrugged it off, Silena was pretty, abnormally gorgeous, in fact, but he didn't like her like that. She was way out of his league.

When they got to the training room, Percy couldn't help but let his jaw drop to the ground, and he had trouble picking it up. The room was state-of-the-art, with new equipment. It wasn't high-school workout room style, but high-tec futuristic type. There was no weight lifting equipment, or chin up bars. In fact, the room was relatively blank. But with enourmous height, and a control room as the grand center piece above, there had to be some use.

A few upper panels slid out, and Chiron's voice could be heard over an intercom, "Welcome back to the training room, and a brand new welcome to Percy. Please head to the locker rooms to suit up, and return within five minutes. Percy your locker will be number... um... I had it hear a second ago, just a moment." Rustling could be heard over the intercom as Chiron search for Percy's locker number. "Ah yes, here it is. Number three, Percy."

Annabeth stiffened. Percy could see it, despite his distance from her. That was the second time she had tensed over something involving him. He just needed to figure out why. Before he could ponder it, the group broke apart; girls to the right, and boys to the left.

"Come on, Percy." Beckondorf steered him to the left. "As much as you'd like to go to the right—and believe me I would too—boys are on the left. It's still pretty cool, though. Wait until you see it."

Percy had been expecting junior high gym lockers, with the classic padlocks and a three digit code. He was genuinely surpised. The locker room matched the training room, as far as advancements in technology went. The lockers were strange, with a scanner for something attached to it. Beckondorf pulled him to locker number three.

"Hey, I'm locker number 4." Beckondorf commented, stepping in front on his locker.

Percy stared at it, unsure what to do. Beckondorf started leaning towards it, and using his peripheral vision he noticed a confused Percy looking at his locker.

Beckondorf nudged him, "What?"

"I don't know how to work it. There's no lock, or combination." Percy answered.

Beckondorf laughed, "Dude! You're the combination!"

"What?" Percy asked.

"You just have to put your eye up to it." Beckondorf demonstrated. "It scans your eye." A little blue light ran over his eye. A little bit of beeping, and it opened.

"Charles Beckondorf. Identity accepted." A small robotic voice came from his locker.

"Chiron calls it a retina scan, he says it matches our identity with the genetics of our eyes."

Percy looked at him blankly.

"Yeah." Beckondorf shook his head. "It's a little hard to explain, but it works."

Percy shrugged before sticking his eye in front of the little camara. The blue scanner, much like Beckondorf's ran over his eye, but stopped halfway through. A blaring alarm rang out.

The computer voice was loud, "Error! Error! Identity not matched! User is not—"

"System override." Chiron's voice came from the corner of the room, he had wheeled himself in. "Chiron X5GT67 protocal. DNA match to Percy Jackson."

Percy had nearly jumped onto Beckondorf, in surprise. He glanced at Chiron with a wild look in his eyes, as if he were looking into the face of the grim reaper. Chiron gestured Percy back to the eye scanner.

"Go ahead, Percy." Chiron said. "Try again."

Percy scanned again, and the computer welcomed the match of DNA. Chiron left as soon as he saw the locker was functional, muttering something to himself. Percy sighed, and took a full black suit from the locker. It was obviously brand new, made of stretchy black material. He removed his clothing, and put on the suit.

It showed off his muscular stature, his eight pack and strong biceps with veins protruding. His black hair had lost control, and flew everywhere in a big mop, partically covering his sea green eyes. Percy wiped the hair out of his eyes, well enough to gain vision back. He pulled on a piar of sleek, sturdy black boots, good for running, but also protective.

"Hey Beckondorf?" Percy asked.

"Yeah?" Beckondorf was still pulling on his boots.

"Why do we need suits?" Percy asked. "Would we look less conspicuous fighting in street clothes?"

"These suits are fire proof, water resistant, freeze resistant, and heat resistant." Beckondorf explained. "You could be walking through the Sahara Dessert, and still not sweat in this suit, Percy."

"Wow." Percy said, when he noticed something different about Beckondorf's suit. "Hey, man?"

"Yeah?"

"Why does your suit have an upside down U on it?"

And there was an upside down U on it. An insignia of an U, flipped over, was etched in gold with two legs, horizontal, on either side of it, rested over Beckondorf's heart. It was obviously different than everyone else's, other than Grover's, and Percy was curious, because it looked cool, and maybe he could get one.

Beckondorf's face turned stony white, "This." He pointed to it. "Is a Greek Omega. Only the mission team—The Omegas—can have one on their uniform. It is a symbol of honor, strength, courage, and rank amongst the rest of the team. People who earn their place on the Omegas can have one, by being appointed by Chiron."

Percy raised his hands in defense, when the door back to the training room swung open, and every boy began to walk back, Percy in toll. The training room hadn't changed, still in it's original, solid gray form. Percy caught sight of Annabeth, and his breath stopped.

She had a perfect figure, usually hidden by baggy t-shirts; she was thin, yet athletically muscular. One hand was on her waist, as if she were annoyed, while the other hung lazily at her side. Her blonde curls were tied back, as they usually were, but a few hair escaped to her face, and were banished to behind her ears. She was definitely pretty, and Percy felt like slapping himself.

He wasn't supposed to like her. He fought often with her, and had thrown water glasses at her. She glared at him with hatred, and he glared back, that was how they worked. He shook himself out of this strange phase, and onto newer, better things. He didn't even like Annabeth, he hated her, and that was final.

Percy still looked at her though, and his eyes caught at her chest—no, not like that—she had the same symbol, the Greek Omega, that Beckondorf had. He groaned, internally, she was an Omega. Two other girls had the same symbol: Thalia and Silena. But only two boys: Beckondorf and Grover had the symbol. Why was it uneven?

Percy could've thought deeply on that question, but his ADHD mind turned to Chiron immediately as he came over the intercom.

"Hello, everyone, today we'll be doing a partner exercise." Chiron's voice rang out. "Gather with your usual partners."

Everyone paired up:

Chris and Clarisse.

Nico and Thalia.

Katie and Travis.

Leo and Reyna.

Juniper and Grover.

Jason and Piper.

Charles and Silena.

Hazel and Frank.

Conner and Bianca.

Annabeth stood alone, not even bothering to find her assigned partner. That's when Percy noticed, they were the only two left. She didn't have a partner. This probably wasn't going to end well.

"Annabeth," Chiron's voice came back on. "From now on, you'll be paired with Percy."

"What?!" Annabeth yelled upwards to Chiron in his control booth. "But Chiron, I train alone, remember? THat was our deal!"

"Our deal, Annabeth," Chiron responded, calmly, "was in place when we had an uneven number of students." Annabeth tensed at that, as if it stirred an old memory. "Now, please join Percy."

Annabeth grumbled to herself, as she stomped over to Percy, with her fists clenched in annoyed rage. She stood next to him, he offered an encouraged smile to her. She punched his shoulder. Hard. Percy winced, but didn't loose his posture.

Chiron signed over the intercom, "Today's exercise involves partners. There will be items released, randomly into the room. These items may help your mutation, or they may not. They may even help your opponent's. It is your job to use the items to your advantage, and to your opponents disadvantage. If you knock out your opponent, you win. Begin in 3... 2... 1..."

A bell rang out, signaling the start of the training. Few items were released. A sofa fell from the ceiling. A wild dog came out of nowhere. A dozen glass dishes were stacked in a corner. A garage door opener. A car key. An old Nokia cell phone. There wasn't much Percy could use, maybe he could throw the Nokia at Annabeth...

Beckondorf, on the other hand, went right to work. He picked up the sofa and tossed it at Silena, yelling an apology to her. Katie was looking around for Travis, who was obviously using his gift of stealth. Reyna had sicked the wild dog on Leo, who was running away from it, while fiddling with the garage door opener, and using the key as a screwdriver.

Chris and Clariss were locked in an epic battle, both had broken plates, using them as knives. Frank was changing animals—only ever three, a kitten, a gecko, and a mouse—which wasn't much use to defeat Hazel. Thalia was throwing lighting bolts at Nico, who was talking to unseen people, asking for help. Neither Connor, nor Bianca could be seen, both using their gifts. Juniper turned things into Juniper bushes, as Grover was typing out a will on the Nokia.

The only one who had an easy win was Piper, who had simply told Jason to knock himself out with one of the glass cups.

Percy was so absorbed with the fighting around him, that he didn't notice Annabeth, as she catapulted herself off the sofa and onto Percy's back. She wrapped her legs around his neck, did a quick flip with him in toll, and knocked him to the ground. She was on top of his back, her fingers locked under his neck in a painful grip, as she pulled upwards, her knee breaking his spin.

With his dominant strength, Percy flipped them over, crushing her with his weight. She gasped in exasperation of the wind beind knocked out of her, but didn't remove her death grip on his neck. He clawed at her hands to no avail, she had it locked in. He started throwing elbows at her, he hit something, unsure what of. But she let go to nurse the pain. He stood up, and she stood too, gripping her right eye, looking at him in shock.

"You elbowed my eye!" She exclaimed.

"You were choking me." Percy swung a right hand at her, as she ducked, forgetting her eye pain. "I'm not to blame."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, and swung to quick hooks, and kick to his face, missing all the shots. But it was a diversion, as Percy stood back to full height for his next swing, she went down, knocking his legs out from underneath him. He fell, but grabbed her ankle, and pulled her down with him.

They were on the ground again, grappling, neither had used an item yet, but both ignored the fighting around them. Annabeth had him in a triangle lock hold, and if she set it in tighter, Percy would be in trouble. He broke her hold, with extreme luck on his side, and stood up. She got to her feet, and Percy was about to take his next swing when a bell sounded.

Percy looked around to the other fights. Silena had beat Beckondorf, though Percy was positive he let her. Jason was defeated first, so he was already awake, and was being teased by his sister, who had beaten Nico. Chris was unconscious with a bloody scratch on his cheek. Bianca had managed to find and sneak up behidn Connor, and had won.

Hazel and Frank were still in a deadlock. Katie still couldn't find Travis, he'd probably left to find food or raid someone's room while they were gone. Leo had managed to make some kind of knock out device out of the garage door opener, making anyone within five feet suddenly loose consciousness, including Reyna and himself. Leo had lost because he had been closest, talk about rotten luck. Frank suddenly collapsed, tired from changing shape so many times. Juniper and Grover, being peacekeepers, had called it quits and declared it a tie.

It was only Percy and Annabeth now, and a new round of items had been released.

A pair of soccer cleats. A razor blade. A rubber chicken. A child's car seat. A stereo. A bottle of self-tanning lotion. A microphone stand. A tube of ruby red #2 lipstick. A slingshot, without ammo. A carved walking stick. And... a can of Diet Coke.

Percy nearly jumped at the sight of a liquid. He focused of the Coke inside the can, felt it churning through the tin and into his control. The can began to rise, and float towards him. He could see himself throwing it at Annabeth in a matter of moments. Then, Annabeth hit him in the back of the head, with Grover's Nokia.

Percy staggered, dropping to one knee. The Coke fell, as Percy released control, it burst open on the metal floor. The brown liquid sprayed everywhere, as the smell of caffeine filled the air. Percy saw stars dancing in his vision, but blinked them away. He knew Annabeth would hit him again, to finish the fight, but he stood up quickly grabbing her raise wrist.

He tightened his grip on her wrist in anger. Her eyes widened, but she didn't drop the Nokia. He stared bullets through her, she had hit him with a Nokia. Nokia's were as hard as steel, very painfull, and she had smacked him with it.

Now. Now, Percy Jackson was pissed.

The Coke rose from the floor, and towards Percy's hand in a whip form. He was going to make her pay. Red anger clouded his vision, but he didn't care, he let it blind him in rage. He raised the whip, when Chiron's voice came on.

"That's enough!" Chiron was angry. "Have you learned nothing, Percy?!"

The red vanished from Percy's eyes. The Coke dropped from his hand. What had come over him? He felt sick, sick from his head to his toes, he had really just been about to whip Annabeth. He felt ashamed, evil... like... like Kronos. He had worked for Kronos so long, been a gang member for so long, he didn't know how to handle his anger, other than to take it out on others.

Percy looked at Annabeth with apologetic eyes. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly closed it. The doors to the training room opened as Percy walked towards them, with Chiron in the way.

"Percy—" Chiron started, anger still tinting his voice.

"Save it, Professor." Percy interrupted. "I don't fit in here. I don't belong here. I can never right my wrongs."

With that, he shoved pat Chiron. He ran up the stairs and into his shared bedroom. He flopped against the pillows, waiting for Jason or Nico to come and scold him for mistreating Chiron and Annabeth. And they did, but Jason stopped Nico before he could go in, saying that Percy should be alone right now. And Percy agreed with him, he was a dangerous man, just like Kronos.

Percy was becoming Kronos, just like Kronos.

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**So I hoped you guys liked it. I'm sorry for any spelling errors, I've been sick and didn't get to write an outline for this chapter, so it's thrown together. **

**It's really sloppy, and pretty bad, but I hope it made some form of sense. I've just decided to give some Writer's Advice today. **

**Writer's Advice: Try to develop your ideas. **

**When I say this, I mean to develop your story in precise detail. You don't have to have long fancy words, in fact, don't do that, because no one will know the meaing. Develop characters, get little details like: scars, pet peeves, their favorite hoodie that has the strings chewed off out of nerves. Things like that make all the difference in the world. **

**Describe your setting. Don't say: "the room was red." say, "the evil girl's bedroom was painted with a ruby red color, reminding him of blood." It's the little things that make the difference. Talk about smell, or sound, perhaps relate it to a memory. And if you can't think of a setting, describe it as something you know. Describe it as your bedroom, or your school gym, or your backyard. Or perhaps a dream you had.**

**Whenever people ask me about writing, they always ask how I get descriptions so good, or how I have such developed characters, I just tell them, "It's the little things that count." You have to paint a picture for your readers. If you can read it to a five year old, and they can imagine it, you've done good. Good Luck! (tell me if you like the writer's advice thing, and then I'll do more)**

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**Never ever stop being such Awesome Possums! :oD **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, I'm back, sorry for taking so long. I was focusing on my new story: Roman, and I've got a few new ideas that I'm looking at developing because most of my ideas, I write down and then I don't do anything with them. **

**Disclaimer: I ****_still _****do not own the Percy Jackson series.**

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Percy couldn't just get a good wake-up at the Institute, could he?

Nico was shaking him. Hard. With a frantic sort of motion that could easily pull a light sleeper from a nap with a sense of urgency. Percy, however, was a heavy sleeper. The kind that was so deep in sleep that drool dripped from the side of his mouth as he snored.

It was when Nico slapped him that Percy woke up.

With years of gang training, Percy was alert at once, but not with the reaction Nico had wanted. Living in New York City for his entire life, Percy was always on the edge, and being in a gang, he was always twitchy around other people.

As soon as Nico's hand left Percy's cheek, Percy had seized Nico's wrist and had him pinned to the bed with his knee on Nico's spine. Still half-asleep, Percy had barely opened his eyes, and was confused as to what was going on. He didn't realize where he was and who he had attacked.

"Furcy." Nico was slightly muffled from cloth bedding.

"Huh?" Percy opened his eyes wider. "What? Oh, man, Nico, I'm sorry." Percy released Nico.

"It's cool Percy." Nico sat up, rubbing his wrist.

Percy looked out the window. The curtains were pushed aside, and Percy could see the moon still high in the dark sky. It was still night. He should still be sleeping. Percy glared at Nico, gesturing vigorously to the night sky.

"Nico." Percy said. "It's still night." Percy looked at his alarm clock. 12:00am. "It's midnight! Why'd you wake me up?"

Nico weakly pointed behind Percy. "I woke up to go to the bathroom, and I found him."

Percy turned and saw Jason. He was like Percy remembered him: messy blonde hair and blue flannel pajama pants. His hair looked as though it had been stirred in a blender, which was reasonable. He'd been sleeping, Percy was sure his hair looked the same. But there was something different.

Jason was floating.

He was levitating about six feet above his bed, still sound asleep. He was flat on his back, with his blanket still hanging by his right leg. His arms were glued to his side, unfeeling of the force of gravity. Jason was uninjured, and seemed to be unaware that he was even using his gift, so Percy didn't see any trouble; he'd get himself down when he awoke.

"So?" Percy turned to Nico. "He's just floating in his sleep, like sleep-walking... but with floating..."

Nico still looked unsure.

"He probably does it all the time." Percy added.

Nico shook his head, "I've roomed with him for nearly a year and a half now, he's never done this."

"How do you know?" Percy asked, smugly. "You could've been asleep while he was doing it."

"I've gone to the bathroom at midnight every night since I was two."

"How do you know that?" Percy questioned him, unsure if he should be curious or disgusted.

Nico crossed his arms, defensively, "my body is on a schedule."

"That's weird."

"You say weird, I say organized."

"Nico!"

"What?"

Percy sighed. "Are you sure he's never done this before?"

"Positive."

"Okay, fine." Percy gave in. "Let's get him down if it's really bothering you that much."

And so, for the next half-hour, Percy and Nico threw things at Jason. They managed to get his blanket down, but Jason had not stirred. By 1:00am, Percy was only half-hearted in it anymore. He was lazily tossing things at Jason, not even close to hitting him, as he faded in and out of sleep.

"Wake." Percy chunked a penny at Jason, as if it'd wake him up if it hit him. "Up."

Nico, on the other hand, was still in it with energy and had thrown everything but the sink from the bathroom. He had taken apart his own bed by hurling every piece of it at him. He ran out of shampoo bottles to toss half an hour ago, and had actually hit Jason a few times.

"Percy!" Nico shook Percy out of a tired daze.

"What?" Percy said, groggily.

"I actually hit him!"

"With what?"

"With this." Nico held up a green toothbrush.

"What's that?" Percy asked. "Your toothbrush?"

"No. Yours." Nico frowned. "Shame, too. It landed in that corner—you know the one with all the spider webs in it—didn't even faze Jason."

"It's yours."

Both looked to Jason. He was still floating, hadn't moved an inch. He had bits of toothpaste on his nose, and paint on his pajama pants that Percy didn't even want to know the story behind.

"You know," Percy said. "I've never seen him float for so long before."

And that was true. Despite the small duration of time that Percy had been at the institute, he had seen Jason levitate twice, both times Jason had been able the float for ten minutes. It was odd, and both boys were confused on how Jason could hover in the air for a longer time than when he was awake and actually conscious of what he was doing.

Suddenly, the wind picked up. Nico and Percy's hair blew in the breeze. There was no origin of it. No doors were open, the windows were closed, and the air-conditioning vent couldn't possibly produce such a strong wind. Jason moved with the wind, and his asleep body shot about the room.

"That's the thing, Perce." Nico said, as the wind calmed a bit, leading Jason in a slower pace. "I don't think he's floating."

"What?" Percy asked. "Then what else is he doing?"

"Jason's flying."

* * *

Chiron was in his office, pondering the day's earlier events.

Nico had dragged him from his bed around two in the morning. He brought him to the room he shared with Percy and Jason, and as Nico had said, Jason was flying around the room. Chiron had simply thanked him for informing him of Jason and awoke Piper to order Jason down. And he left.

Chiron knew what was happening, and he knew why it was happening, but he didn't tell his students. He couldn't. Not with Percy there. The boy wouldn't even look at him when he entered the room, it made him regret placing Percy in Jason's room. Chiron couldn't tell if Percy was angry or ashamed.

Personally, Chiron thought there wasn't much of a difference.

As Chiron was thinking, there was a knock on his door.

"Chiron?" Annabeth. It was Annabeth. "Can I talk to you about something.

"Of course."

Annabeth opened the door and walked in.

She was a mess. She was still in her pajamas, which was fine. Today was Sunday, and Sunday was a free day for the students. Her hair was in a curly mess, and her eyes were bloodshot. Her cheeks were red with heat, yet the rest of her skin was deathly pale lacking her usual tan. Under her eyes were purple bags, showing she had not slept. She was carrying a bottle of water, and had an ice pack pressed her forehead.

"Annabeth?" Chiron looked surprised, she was usually so well put together. "Annabeth, are you all right?"

"I have the worst headache."

"I'm sorry, I'll send up some pain killers."

"That's not all Chiron."

Chiron gestured her to a chair in front of his desk, "I'm always listening."

"I think I've gone off the edge."

Chiron chuckled at her. "What do you mean?"

"I've gone crazy." Annabeth said. "That Jackson kid is pushing me. I'm so twitchy and I keep hearing these voices."

"Voices?"

"Voices." Annabeth repeated. "I know I've finally lost it."

"No, no." Chiron encouraged her, as he pulled out a pen and a pad of paper. "Tell me about these, 'voices.'"

"Well," Annabeth began. "I started hearing them last night while I was drawing a new architecture design I might want to build one day..."

"Go on."

"And I heard it."

"Heard it?"

"It." Annabeth said. "The voice. It said, 'I wonder where Annabeth is?' At first, I thought someone had said something, and I just heard them through the wall or something, but when I didn't hear it again, I vetoed that idea. Then I suggested that _I_ had thought it, but that's stupid, why would I wonder where I am?

"Then, I heard another voice, 'stupid Travis', and although he is, why would I suddenly think Travis is stupid? There's no explanation. Then I started hearing a lot of them. 'Where's this person? What ticked him off? What time is this? Should I do this? Well, no one's watching...'"

"Are you hearing them right now?" Chiron asked.

"Yes..." Annabeth pinched her nose.

"I was afraid of this?"

"What?"

"Your mutation genes are jealous."

"What?"

"Your mutation genes are jealous." Chiron repeated.

Annabeth's eyes darted about the room, noting every point as it occurred. Every crack in the floorboard, every piece of dust, was a major detail. Chiron knew this about Annabeth, she was calculating in herself, analyzing the situation and every small little bit of it, reducing every option until she found a solution.

"What does that mean?" Annabeth asked, gathering information.

Chiron knew the subject well, as it was all common sense, "Your mutation genes activate themselves to rule over others, and when they're out powered, the add more juice to the mutation."

"What does that have to do with my headaches?"

"Ever since Percy arrived at the institute, he's been more powerful than any other student, perhaps even all of you combined. So your mutations are adapting to what they see as a threat."

It made a bit of sense to Annabeth, but one thing still bothered her, "That doesn't make sense for me, Chiron. My mutation has nothing to do with my thoughts."

"Actually, Annabeth," Chiron said quietly, he'd been hiding this for a long times, but he'd be vague for now, "It kind of does."

Annabeth suddenly doubled over in pain as a flood of voices filled her head. She gripped her head, tears spilling down the side, that she quickly wiped away before Chiron could notice.

"Are you all right?" Chiron asked, with hints of concern in his voice.

"I'm fine." Annabeth responded. "I think I just need to go lie down."

"An excellent idea, Annabeth." Chiron smiled. "You're always thinking, as usual. I'll send up that pain medication."

Annabeth left the office, using the wall to guide her, so she wouldn't run into anything with her eyes squeezed shut in her pain. As she closed the door and turned to walk to the stairs, she opened her eyes, catching a glimpse of a black converse sneaker and a whoosh of black hair as someone turned away from the corner, turning back into the kitchen.

She cocked her head to one side, ignoring the pain for a moment, smirking to herself. Someone had been spying on her conversation with Chiron. She rounded the corner where she thought someone had been watching her into the kitchen to see... nothing. Nothing. No one. She would've been convinced no one had been there, if not for a little voice whispering to her.

She left the kitchen neat and orderly with nothing but a dishless sink full of water.

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**You know, dishless isn't even a word, but I couldn't think of anything else, so who cares about grammar?! :) If you don't get the dishless sink of water thing, reread the earlier chapters, it'll come. Anyways:**

**Writer's Advice: Summaries.**

**How many of you have read the, "I'm not good at summaries, but please read..." line? Well, what can I say? At least your being honest...**

**Don't ever use that line, even if you don't write a very good summary, don't use that line. It's pathetic, and I get mad when I see it, and I don't read those stories. For me, if you can't write a good synopsis on your own story, you probably haven't really thought it through. It's important to have confidence in your writing, and not care if you think people will not like your summaries. It's not about the summary, it's about the story, and "I'm not good at summaries" kinda says you aren't good at writing.**

_**If any of you have trouble with summaries, just PM me and I'll help you write one! Good Luck!**_

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**You guys are such Awesome Possums! :oD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, here is chapter numero cinco, (showing off a bit of my Espanol, right there for you). So anyways, I am here with the next chapter of the Institute. You know, the more I think about, the more it relates to X-Men, but nevertheless, I have something big coming, something you all have been bugging me about: Leo's powers. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series. Still. Still do not own the PJ series.**

* * *

Leo was huddled into a ball when Beckondorf found him.

Beckondorf had been gone all of five minutes to retrieve a few spare parts he had in his room, leaving Leo is their little machine shop/Institute basement. They were both very proud of what they had accomplished in building the makeshift shop, they had even taken apart an old '70s mustang, and put it back together.

Now the car just sat in the corner, because they had no way of getting it out, and Chiron simply refused to let them bust out the main floor, despite promises of having it put back together the same afternoon. When Beckondorf had told Leo he had the exact parts they needed, Leo succumbed to his ADHD self, and skipped around the room like a four-year old child.

Five minutes. Maximum. That's what we were talking about here.

Not even enough time for Leo to break the project they had been working on—a reflective shield.

Call him old fashion, but this shield was special. Beckondorf had designed it to reveal a different location by reflection, which could prove to be very useful on tact missions—if Chiron would ever let them go on one. Chiron always said that the world wasn't ready to know about their existence; that when the time came, they would know.

Bull. Even Beckondorf knew why Chiron would never let them to go on missions; he didn't want a repeat of—well, Beckondorf wasn't allowed to say. He'd be hunted down by at least three people for even thinking the thought of what happened. He just cleared his mind of the memory, and focused back on his latest invention.

He had to admit, having Leo working with him was definitely a step-up. Despite being two years younger, and extremely hyper and annoying, the kid was pretty smart. He could assemble and disassemble any piece of machinery that Beckondorf gave him in a matter of seconds.

No matter how much Leo had liven up to the standards Beckondorf had placed for him, Beckondorf had still bolted up the stairs and into his bedroom, grabbed the few spare parts, and rushed back down before Leo could've hurt anything—the kid was easily excitable like that.

Instead of finding him leaned over the shield, working on it, Leo was in the fetal position with his knees pulled into his chest, gripping them as if he'd lose them if he held them any softer. He was pushed into the far corner, with his eyes wide, making some form of whimpering sound as if he had been traumatized.

"Leo?"

Leo jumped at the sound of his name, looking around wildly. When he caught sight of Beckondorf, his nerves didn't go down any more, in fact, they seemed to increase. Leo released one knee, and held out his hand, as if trying to ward Beckondorf away.

"Leo?" Beckondorf repeated. "What's wrong?"

"Stay back." Leo murmured. "Get away."

"Leo?" Beckondorf moved closer to Leo, causing him to push himself farther into the corner. "What happened?"

"Get back!" This time, Leo was more forceful.

"Why? What's the matter, Leo?"

Beckondorf was becoming more frantic. Knowing Leo, there were so many things he could've done to hurt himself or the equipment. He could've spilled the toxic chemicals in the corner, or accidentally set off the explosives Beckondorf had hidden in the box on the top shelf.

"Just, stay back!" Leo had sat into the wall, as if shielding himself from Beckondorf.

"Leo." Beckondorf had hardened him voice. "What. Happened."

"What happened?! What happened?!" Leo was in hysteria. "This is what happened."

Leo's hands suddenly became ablaze; flames danced on his fingertips. Beckondorf had almost ran for the fire extinguisher, he kept in the cabinet on the other side of the room, but he realized that Leo was not burning himself. Beckondorf couldn't have been more confused. Leo closed him hands, stopping the fire, and hugged his knees to his chest.

Beckondorf sat down in front of him, cross-legged, "Now, tell me what happened."

* * *

_Leo watched as Beckondorf left the room, and he turned back to the reflective shield. _

_Leo was proud of that shield, and the time and effort that he and Beckondorf had put into it.__ He ran his fingertips along the unfinished welding of the edges, Leo wanted to finish that, so it'd look nice when Beckondorf came back. But __Beckondorf had only told Leo about his secret little workshop about a month ago, Leo hadn't had time to learn where everything was. _

_This was the first time, Beckondorf had actually allowed Leo to be alone in the shop, before Leo could just ask him where the tools he required were located. But with Beckondorf gone, Leo was practically clueless. He wanted so badly to finish it for Beckondorf, before he came back, and Leo knew he could get it down in a matter of seconds. Leo just needed something to weld with. _

He wanted it so bad.

_Then, suddenly, Leo's fingertip was on fire. Leo screamed in a very girlish matter, and then ran for the sink that he and Beckondorf usually used for washing off grease. As Leo turned on the faucet, Leo stuck his entire hand under the cool soothing water, but he began to panic when the little spark wouldn't go out. _

_Leo started blowing against his wet hand, but stopped when he saw a drop of water slid down the flame. How was that even possible? Leo could feel his energy slowing edging away, and he _wanted_ this little fire gone. And then, it went out. Just like that. You could've snapped your fingers, and it would've been out faster. _

_A memory of Jason flying about his room hit Leo's mind, as did rumors of Annabeth constantly having headaches. Was the same thing happening to him? Was he changing in power? What was happening? Leo was scared of himself, what if he hurt somebody? What if he burned somebody? _

_Then he promised to never use his fire against another person. Never ever. _

_He crawled, weakly, into the corner of the machine shop like a terrified little kid with his knees against his chest. He didn't know what to think, or do, which was something that didn't happen very often. He tapped a message against his knee to himself, 'you okay?' And truth be told, he wasn't all that sure. _

_"Leo?"_

* * *

As Beckondorf listened to Leo's story, he was quite perplexed.

Leo having the ability to control fire? Impossible. That wasn't something that just happened... maybe he had split the toxic chemicals all over himself. Or maybe not. Jason had started flying, and Annabeth was having headaches, maybe Leo had joined them in whatever was happening.

Not even Beckondorf, in all his genius, knew what was happening.

He simply smiled, sympathetically, at the younger boy and pulled him to his feet, "Come on, Leo. I know where Nico hides his secret Root Beer stash."

That lit Leo's eyes up, as he raced past Beckondorf, and up the stairs to the kitchen, his entire incident forgotten. But Beckondorf still remembered, and he still pondered it with interest as he followed Leo up the stairs to Nico's Root Beer stash. Something kept bothering him though, as he pieced it all together. Leo had placed out his hand as if to shield himself from Beckondorf, but now Beckondorf realized something.

Leo had been shielding Beckondorf from himself.

* * *

Reyna was in a mood.

And that was not a good thing. Everyone in the institute knew to stay away from Reyna when she was in one of her moods, if they wanted to wake up alive the next morning. No one had objected to her when she announced she was going to take a walk.

Walks weren't really Reyna's thing. Walks were when you needed to think about something, perhaps an important decision, or when you took a walk with a boy to get him to kiss you—Reyna had none of the sort. No decisions. No boys. She just up and decided that she was going walking, she didn't know where, just walking to wherever her feet took her.

She ended up at a gas station, about seven miles from the seclusion of the institute, three hours later. She didn't know what caused her to walk such a long way, but she felt like she had satisfied whatever urge had caused to take the walk, and was ready for the journey home.

But as she was at a gas station, with about two dollars burning a hole in her pocket—yeah, she was rich—she decided to purchase a bottle of water, in case she got thirsty on the walk back. Most teenagers would've opted for an energy drink or a Gatorade, but Reyna felt they did more harm to the body than they did help. After paying for the over-priced drink, she pocketed her change, and exited the store as the door dinged her leaving.

As soon as she walked out, two strays dogs were waiting for her on the side of the empty road. They both stared at her, and she stared back. Reyna knew the breed: Jack Russell Terriers, a very playful kind of dog. By the way they wagged their tails, and fixed their eyes on her, Reyna knew they wanted to talk.

It was at times like this that Reyna disliked her gift.

Yeah, Reyna could talk to dogs, but that didn't mean she always wanted to, especially with Jack Russell Terriers, they had a very hyper annoying voice to them. Reyna put her hand to her head as she felt their voices coming through, greeting her, as a headache began to form.

"Just leave me alone!" It had come out sharper than Reyna had wanted it to.

And they left.

That left Reyna surprised. Really surprised. That never happened; when dogs discovered that there was a human they could converse with, they hardly ever left her alone, even when she was reduced to begging them. It was another reason she disliked leaving the institute, it left her open to being stalked by dogs.

Flashes of the previous night when Jason had gained his flying abilities, and memories of Annabeth being unable to participate in the training exercises because of extreme headaches. Something weird was happening to the institute and it's students.

On a hunch, she spoke again, "Come back."

The dogs stopped in their leave and turned back to her, happily, with their tongues hanging out of their mouths like, _'oh, she actually wants to talk to us!'_

"Lie down."

The dogs obeyed to her command, and lowered themselves to the grass, eagerly waiting for her next order.

"Stand up."

Reyna had been expecting the dogs to do nothing more than rise from their position, but instead the dogs rose onto their hind legs and stood. Just as Reyna had asked.

"Jump."

Now Reyna was just pulling commands out of thin air, as both dogs leapt into the air and landed back onto all fours. This was impossible, maybe it was just coincidence, or something. She could prove it was, she just had to come up with something that was impossible for them to do.

"Backflip."

It was as if some magical force had seized the dogs by their legs and forced them to their hind legs, then pushed the two into the air and flipped them over before setting them back down. Was Reyna evolving into Piper? Did she had vocal control over everybody now, too? No, people weren't her thing; dogs were. Reyna didn't understand much about herself, but she knew one thing.

This wasn't normal.

* * *

Chiron couldn't hear his own thoughts over the shouts of Reyna and Leo.

Reyna had returned from a walk, one that was unauthorized and she would be getting a major scolding about. Leo had a bottle of root beer in a hand, and was yelling in between sips about fire. Chiron rubbed his temples, knowing that they wouldn't be stopping anytime soon; that both wanted their say, first.

"Don't listen to her!" Leo shouted over Reyna. "I have fire powers now!" In demonstration, Leo lit his hands ablaze, but extinguished them before Chiron could press questions.

"No, don't pay attention to him! This is much more important, Professor." Reyna argued. "I have control over dogs now, they do what I say!"

Chiron thanked his lucky stars that there wasn't a dog in the room for Reyna to demonstrate with.

"So?" Leo crossed him arms.

"So, go away." Reyna ordered.

"No!"

"Hmm. Maybe I don't have control over dogs." Reyna looked accusingly at Leo.

"Yea—HEY!"

Chiron interrupted them. "Please go back to your rooms, it is late, and you are not the only ones with a new sudden power. We will hopefully be discussing this, tomorrow."

Reyna and Leo left, obediently, in a huff, mumbling between themselves about who's new power was cooler. Chiron wheeled himself to the door, and shut it behind them, ready for peace and quiet. But there was no such thing as peace and quiet in the institute for Chiron, only fear and worry. First it had been Annabeth and Jason, now it was Leo and Reyna.

Who's powers would be next? Chiron licked his lips in nervous anticipation, as he rest his head against his hand. He was definitely worried for the children, and the future of the institute. And why did all of this start happening as soon as Percy Jackson arrived? One last question that formed in Chiron's mind bothered him more than any of the others.

Would their little secret stay secret?

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**Are you guys happy now? I can't tell you how many review I got about how Leo had just mechanical powers, and I'm just all like: *teary, whiney voice* I have a plot, here, people! Let me work with it!**

**Anyways, I don't own Gatorade, just used it cause it's popular and that's what most teens would do. **

**Read and Review!**

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**You guys are such Awesome Possums!1 :oD**


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